Connecticut Wealth Management LLC Decreases Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Connecticut Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 52.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,807 shares during the quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 7,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisor OS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 9,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,314,347.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total value of $5,648,545.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,777,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $901,154,354.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total transaction of $79,945.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 102,750 shares of company stock valued at $6,604,492. Corporate insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

NYSE:SMG traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $71.41. 260,710 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 756,541. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.30 and a beta of 1.70. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $43.67 and a 12-month high of $77.95.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 20.97% and a negative net margin of 10.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -42.31%.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Consumer, Hawthorne, and Other. The company provides lawn care products, comprising lawn fertilizers, grass seed products, spreaders, and other durable products, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; and gardening and landscape products, which include water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes, garden soils, mulches and ground cover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and live goods and seeding solutions.